Reasons Why Projects Fail And How To Overcome These Obstacles
Organizations across various industries, whether they be small, medium or large scale enterprises, take on projects on a regular basis. A project is any collaborative enterprise, involving research or design that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim. Projects can be taken on for a number of reasons, for example, improving the company’s performance, improving a product or service, introducing a product or service, or introducing changes in policy or legislation.
However, according to studies conducted across various countries all around the globe, almost two-thirds of all projects taken on result in failure. Thus, the odds of success for a project taken on anywhere in the entire world is less than 34%, which is a shame. But why do projects fail? And, what can organizations do to ensure that their projects are a success? This is what we’ll discuss in this article.
Why Projects Fail
There can be a number of reasons why projects fail. Let us discuss some of the most likely ones.
1. Lack Of Resources
The top reason such an astonishingly large number of undertaken projects fail is due to lack of resources. Project managers can only do so much unless (or until) they’re supplied with all the resources they require for the successful completion of a project. For that, they need to convince the senior management of the organization to allocate the resources they require and explain to them in a detailed manner why these resources are required. A project with scarce resources right from the start is bound to fail.
2. No Fixed Agenda Or Scope
This is another highly-probable reason for project failure. Unless every one of the initial meetings leads to an action, one that is monitored thoroughly, the project will rocket toward failure. A clear agenda needs to be set, one that does not change frequently. For that, organizations need to ensure that meetings go efficiently and produce effective results. The same goes for the scope of the projects, which should be determined early on and documented in a systematic manner. Stakeholders should sit down and agree on a project scope, which shouldn’t be tampered with unless absolutely necessary.
3. Lack Of Proper Collaboration And Leadership
A medium or large-sized project often means scattered teams hailing from different geographies. In such a case, proper communication suffers and effective collaboration takes a hit. Problems like indecisive decision-makers, misinterpretation and too many opinions are only magnified due to them not being there, and there is no single leader to usher them on the right path. Collaboration happens smoothly when there is a culture of learning and knowledge sharing between all the members of a project.
4. Lack Of Quality
Lack of quality can arise for a number of reasons but is usually because of either the poor performance of the Project Manager or lack of skills amongst team members. Also, a lack of proper quality checks lets bad quality work go unseen. Keeping things organized and holding the Project Manager as well as team members responsible for the quality of the work being done is the only way to stop them from affecting the project.
5. Lack Of A Project Management Tool
In the modern age we live in, there’s either a tool, software or an app for almost everything. The same goes for Project Management. There are various tools, like TAMPLO, available on the market that help empower meetings, improve collaboration, share documents, streamline workflow and focus on quality, in addition to making planning and task management easier. Not having an effective Project Management tool, when such great ones are available, seems like a deliberate attempt to make things harder than they are. Project managers should, after thorough research, invest in a Project Management tool that fulfills all their needs.
Ensuring a project’s success is by no means an easy task. Minimizing factors that negatively affect the project is the only way to ensure that it begins and ends smoothly. Understanding the above-mentioned reasons for project failure will help project managers stay one step ahead of the game, and reduce the risk of any of them affecting projects by taking the necessary steps.
